Feb 17, 2016 3 min read

CANONSBURG – Wednesday night’s WPIAL Class A first-round boys basketball playoff game between West Greene and Vincentian figured to be a contrast in styles.

The Pioneers like to play in a halfcourt set to take advantage of the size of 6-5 Kolton Rush and 6-8 Craig Weaver.

The Royals, meanwhile, are an end-to-end team that plays at a much faster pace.

In this case, the end-to-end game came out on top, as Vincentian handed West Greene an 81-46 defeat at Canon-McMillan High School.

The Pioneers, who finish their season at 12-9, were making their first appearance in the postseason since 1993.

Vincentian guards Thomas Quinlan and David Jen made sure it was a short one as Quinlan scored 18 points and Jen added 17.

“I thought we came in ready and loose,” West Greene head coach Jim Romanus said. “This just showed how far we still have to come. When you play against a good team like we did tonight, they will impose their will on you and that is what happened tonight.”

From the opening tip, the team speed of Vincentian (15-7), which advances to the quarterfinals to face Sewickley Academy, was too much for West Greene to handle.

The Royals forced turnovers and pushed the tempo. The depth of Vincentian also played an early role as it played 12 players in the first half, while West Greene had trouble keeping pace.

“We knew if we would get into a running game with them then it was going to be a very long night,” Romanus said. “We wanted to try and slow them down, but the problem was whenever we broke their press we took quick shots. Make them or miss them they are still quick shots and it speeds the game up. Their speed was just too much for us.”

With the game tied at six in the first quarter, the Royals put together an impressive 20-4 run that saw them go up 26-10.

The Royals then opened the second quarter with a 16-0 spurt that saw them extend the lead to 42-12. Seven different players scored in the first half for Vincentian with Jen leading the way with 17 and Quinlan adding 10.

“They just didn’t have 12 or 13 guys play in the first half, but they had 12 or 13 guys that could run,” Romanus said. “That’s the difference right there. They were able to take our big guy right out of the game with their speed.”

The second half wasn’t much better for the Pioneers as they fell behind by as many as 42 in the third quarter.

With most of their starters on the bench midway through the third, the Royals got 15 points from Geno Conroy in the second half.

Rush led West Greene with 14 points, while Nathan Brudnock was also in double figures with 10.

“We will work to get better,” Romanus said. “I already wrote down that conditioning wise we are going to be a lot better next year. We have to be if we are going to compete with teams like that. They showed us what really good basketball is all about.”